When I get ready to cut my fabric, I iron it and fold it once. I iron the fold flat but when I lay it on my cutting mat you can see a slight bow in the middle of the fold. Why would this happen if it's only folded once? I know you can get the bows if the fabric is folded more then once. I have tried ironing with starch and without but it still happens either way. How can I stop this?

Thanks

I cut mine the same way. I just use a little starch if it bows I just hope no one will notice. But it is frustrating. I do find the less folds the better.

Are you folding it selvage to selvage? This makes a big difference!

Also be very careful when you are ironing your fabric. If you iron to aggressively, you can distort it :wink:

Also you can't just "fold" it you have to make sure it's folded on the grain.

If you're having trouble folding from selvage to selvage, fold and then hold it up with the fold and match the selvage as closely as possible. Sometimes the selvage edge can have a little wave in it so if you hold it on the fold and match it, you can get the bow out of the folded edge. If it is a large piece of fabric you made need a helper to hold one end for you.
Good luck, Pam

I fold salvage to salvage. and I Iron it, without any steam.
If I am cutting smaller pieces, I will cut one yard off , and just work with it. Makes it easier to work with. Also, I will stop every 3rd cut and make sure it is still even on the edge.
Some times I need to trip just a little before continuing.

this is what I do too.

I starch it nearly to death. Then I fold it selvage to selvage, smooth it out, and fold it again, smoothing it again. I also keep checking to make sure it's even on the edges while I'm cutting.

I have resorted at times to gluing my selvages together and then pressing to get exact straight folds. My cuts were always off so I knew to buy extra fabric. That's why I was first in line to buy the fabric die cut machine.